Omnishambles was recently named word of the year by the Oxford English Dictionary, no doubt much to the glee of Ed Miliband. For the retail industry, ‘omnichannel’ should perhaps have been the term that defined 2012, but sadly for most it was not.

While it might be a perfect example of an industry buzzword, what omnichannel actually means for retailers - moving beyond multi-channel to a truly seamless and simultaneous customer experience across all channels - is actually deadly serious.

The implications of not having an omnichannel approach have been graphically illustrated by the unfortunate demise of Comet. Here we had a retailer which in the late 1960s pioneered the out-of-town electrical discount superstore in the UK, replacing a world that had been dominated by the local electrical shop and mail-order.

However, the original industry innovator and one-time visionary was blind to the coming world of online shopping. Even when it became clear that e-commerce was here to stay, Comet’s digital operation trailed its competitors’.

“Are investment decisions today being taken with a five-year view?”

Now to be fair, the internet has hit the electrical goods industry particularly hard, but why has Comet fallen by the wayside, while Dixons Retail is thriving? The answer lies in omnichannel.

One retailer not only invested in a strong online platform, but actually thought deeply about the role physical stores needed to play beyond being a literal shop window for online-only competitors.

Dixons removed confusing online and offline product, promotion and price differentials, invested in store refurbishments and refocused on in-store expertise. The result was a more seamless journey for the customer, independent of their starting point, and stronger sales.

As we look ahead to 2013, the pace at which retailers will be required to adapt and change will not slacken. Just think about the implications of the millions of lucky UK consumers who will be unwrapping shiny new smartphones, Kindle Fires and iPads.

Comet’s story is a salutary warning and speaks to a wider truth about our industry. As we focus relentlessly on Christmas and hitting each quarter’s sales targets, who is thinking about the bigger picture? Not just who, but how many? And how much time are they being given to think beyond their immediate challenges? Are investment decisions today being taken with a five-year view on survival?

While the omnichannel world presents retailers with many external challenges, perhaps the greatest is ensuring that internal business structures are actually geared to meet them.

Daljit Bhurji is MD of integrated social media consultancy Diffusion